Case Studies

Lintel Repair & Reinforcement

Often, lintel support is insufficient; whether this is due to
general deterioration of the building over time, the existing mild
steel lintels starting to rust and corrode, or due to settlement
and movement. Signs of lintel and brick arch failure becomes
evident; typical signs are diagonal or stepped cracking at the tops
of windows or doors.

When cavity walls were first introduced, it was common practice
to construct the outer leaf of the cavity without a lintel
reinforcement, with the brickwork supported by the load
bearing window frame. Often, especially when windows have
been replaced, the lintels start to sag, or diagonal cracks (almost
into a triangle) start to appear at the corners of windows.
This is because, in this instance, the original timber windows were
helping to support the outer masonry skin. Once replaced, the
new windows had insufficient load bearing capacity, causing the
masonry to crack. Left unchecked, the cracks in the wall are
liable to worsen.

Solutions and Repair for Lintel and Brick Arch
Failure

Here at Stronghold Preservation we offer the service of
essentially creating a new lintel over your existing opening with
minimum disturbance. This is suitable for most lintel
failures and failed masonry arches. This method of forming
lintels costs significantly less than traditional lintel
replacement.

Lintel Repair

As the lintels have failed, or are non-existent, we suggest, in
effect, installing new lintels above the existing lintels. Our
highly skilled operatives cut two horizontal grooves, 450-900mm
vertically apart, above the window. Two pairs of high tensile
stainless steel helical bars are embedded into the wall with a
specialised grout. The reinforced brick beam lintel has a
typical load carrying capacity of 2.6 tonne (BRE
Calculations).